1. l’innovation
2008-2009
AUTREMENT
“It’s the unknown that appeals to me.
I’m always looking for Ariadne’s
thread each time I come across
a labyrinth”
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes

2. An alternative route to Innovation

3. In the footsteps of Pierre-Gilles de Gennes p. 04
.......................................
A strategy, An organization p. 06
.......................................
Toward a new model of innovation p. 08
.......................................
Responding to business issues p. 10
.......................................
Building innovation in three stages p. 12
.......................................
Laboratories, Projects p. 14
.......................................
Developing talents, Transmitting knowledge p. 16
.......................................

4. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
In the footsteps of
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
Scientific excellence
Alumnus of the École Normale Supérieure, scientific visitor in the group of Charles Kittel
at Berkeley from 1967 to 1971, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes became the Director of the École
Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles [Graduate School of Industrial Physics and
Chemistry] in 1976, professor at the Collège de France, and eventually was awarded the Nobel
Prize in physics in 1991. PGG lately joined the Curie Institute in 2002.
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes left us a vast body of achievements. He essentially created the field of
soft-matter physics, opening up an area that was viewed by his peers as irrelevant at that time.
His enthusiasm and his sense of curiosity led him unceasingly to address issues that were new
to him (for instance neurosciences).
There is a certain approach to physics that can be characterized as the “de Gennes” style,
typified by the conviction that the phenomena observed in everyday life also pose worthwhile
scientific problems and challenges – that shall be explained in simple terms and understood
by everyone, regardless of the complexity of the underlying mechanisms.
His unflagging desire to convey knowledge and share his discoveries impelled Pierre-Gilles de
Gennes to teach throughout his life: at the Faculté des Sciences d’Orsay [Orsay School of the
Sciences], in primary schools and colleges after receiving his Nobel prize, and at the Collège de
France, where he held the condensed-matter physics chair until 2007, the very year when he
passed away at the age of 75.
The meeting of industrial know-how
and academic knowledge
For Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, the essential thing was to breach the barrier separating industrial
research from basic Science. PGG was able to maintain links with industrial engineers, based
on intellectual stimulation and exchanges, supported by a truly egalitarian approach. His own
researches into aquaplaning and emulsions were heavily influenced and driven by his industrial
experience. As he himself said, “Both sides have everything to gain!”. The discoveries of Pierre-
Gilles de Gennes contributed toward numerous industrial innovations, such as the role played
by polymerization processes in the plastics industry, or the mastery of textures and the release
of active ingredients in shampoos or detergents, and the assisted recovery of petroleum.
The convictions held by Pierre-Gilles de Gennes include the need for concerted action, for a
dialog, and for the creation of two-way channels between the academic world and the industrial
world. In his own words, “a proper national policy would consist of harmonizing both spheres,
so that industrialists will be able to delegate the problems that they themselves cannot address,
because of the extremely long timeframes of those issues.”
p. 4

5. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
Inspired every day by scientific interdisciplinarity, and with a commitment
to major societal missions (the symbiotic cooperation of basic and
industrial research, the dissemination of scientific progresses in the fields of
health, the environmentally concerned sustainable development, and the
transmission of knowledge), Pierre-Gilles de Gennes left a mark on science,
business, and society. It was with the goal of enshrining his missions
within the continuation of the activities of this great servant of science
that the Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research was created.
The convergence of scientific disciplines
“The frontiers between great empires are often populated by the most interesting peoples.
Similarly, the interfaces between two blocks of matter cause the most unexpected effects.”
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes crossed the boundaries of numerous different scientific domains – or,
in other words, he took advantage of those boundaries in order to make them more fruitful
and to derive from them the full measure of their substance and their potential. He explo-
red the physics of condensed matter, the chemistry of polymers, and the universe of plastics
– which, he was fond of saying, represented an ideal marriage between physics and chemistry.
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes was an explorer: a frontierman who never lost his enthusiasm, even
while working at the Curie Institute on the physico-chemical foundations of the biology of the
brain.
Innovation within start-up ventures
“The most fruitful industrial research is being done at small start-up ventures, where life is exciting
but difficult. I love this example of stubborn, penniless experimenters. Small high-tech companies,
which embody the hopes for our future, thrive on these kinds of people.”
The goal of Pierre-Gilles de Gennes was to prevent the drain of technological projects away
from their place of birth and to create conditions that would encourage the emergence of
industrial applications from the locus of initial discovery, the academic laboratories.
For him, helping innovative young companies take off, thanks to the convergence of skills and
resources, was the ideal way to concretize the inherent potential of Research.
p. 5

6. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
A strategy...
At a time when the ability to discover, invent, and transform knowledge into applications is
becoming globalized, more than ever the modern world needs technological breakthroughs
and major innovations in order to maintain a sustainable development, create value for inves-
tors, bring new resource-preservation solutions to light, and fight against the great diseases
that plague humanity. It was within this setting that the Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for
Research was created in March of 2007. And it is in this spirit that the Foundation now invites
innovative businesses to create the conditions for innovation breakthrough in partnership with
the research laboratories within its network.
Through the meeting of industrial know-how and academic research
Through the creation of new research topics and new sources of inspiration
Through the simplification of the administrative management of joint public-private projects
Through the responsiveness and flexibility provided for individual, collective, academic, and
industrial initiatives
The Foundation is building and enriching its network of private partners (including innovative
small and medium-sized businesses, as well as major companies) alongside the laboratories of its
founding members. Dedicated to industrialists and academic researchers, the Foundation laun-
ches public-private research projects and facilitates the transformation of discoveries into inno-
vative applications. Between now and the year 2012, the Foundation will be investing its initial
capital of 20 million euros in the financing of research projects undertaken by its laboratories.
For industrialists For academic researchers
The Foundation: The Foundation:
Allows access to a think-tank of extremely Invests 2.5 million euro/year in research projects
high-level researchers Facilitates meetings proposed by researchers within the network
among potential partners and the creation of Offers an alternative source of inspiration and
partnerships Serves as a facilitator for joint challenges: exploring the hard-to-reach scientific
research projects Provides security for the area consisting of industrial know-how Proposes
acquisition of proofs of concept Offers three working alongside industrial partners Evaluates
sequential stages for the secure establishment of and sets up projects in a responsive manner
partnerships (see p. 13)
p. 6

7. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
The École Normale Supérieure (ENS), the École Supérieure de
Physique et de Chimie Industrielles (ESPCI), the Institut Curie, the CNRS
and the INSERM have built a virtual center of excellence based on
An organization interdisciplinarity, exchanges among the institutions and public-private
partnerships: a center known as the Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
for Research
For the determination of its broad guidelines and oversight of their implementation, the
Foundation relies on a Board of Directors consisting of representatives of its five founding
members, the scientific community, local collective bodies, and civil society.
To define its scientific strategy, specify its goals, and evaluate its performance, the Foundation
consults its International Science Committee.
To manage its activities, the Foundation has established a dual operational entity consisting of
an Executive Team and a particularly responsive Steering Committee. As a driving force
behind the Foundation’s excellence, this Steering Committee identifies and selects the best
opportunities among internal research projects and projects conducted in the form of industrial
partnerships.
Board of Directors Steering Committee
YVES GULDNER, Deputy Director, ENS DANIEL LOUVARD, Director of the Curie Institute
Research Center
MARYLÈNE MESTON DE REN, Secretary General, ENS
FRANÇOIS DOZ, Chairman of the Clinical Trials and
FRANÇOIS FUSEAU, Treasurer of the PGG Foundation,
Research Committee (CERC) of the Curie Institute
Secretary General of the ESPCI
CLAUDE BOCCARA, Science Director of the ESPCI
JACQUES PROST, Director, ESPCI
JANINE COSSY, Director of the Organic Chemistry
GIUSEPPE BALDACCI, Deputy Director, the Curie Institute
Laboratory of the ESPCI
CORINNE CUMIN, Secretary General of the Curie
ANTOINE TRILLER, Director of the Biology Department
Institute Research Center
of the ENS
CHRISTIANE BRANLANT, Research Director, CNRS
VINCENT CROQUETTE, Director of Research at the
PATRICK NETTER, Life Sciences Director, CNRS
Physics Department of the ENS
CLAUDE BOUCHEIX, Research Director, INSERM
CÉCILE THARAUD, General Director, INSERM Transfert
JEAN-PIERRE HENRY, Chairman of the Montagne Sainte Science Committee
Geneviève Association
B. CANNON, Wenner-Gren Institute
JEAN-CLAUDE LEHMANN, qualified individual
A.H. GANDJBAKHCHE, National Institutes of Health
ANDRÉ LEVY-LANG, qualified individual
B. GEIGER, Weizmann Institute
HERVÉ LE LOUS, Chairman of the PGG Foundation
D. TAWFIK, Weizmann Institute
MAURICE QUENET, Government Commissioner and
E. SACKMANN, University of Munich
Dean of the Academy of Paris
K. SIMONS, Max Planck Institute
JEAN-LOUIS MISSIKA, Deputy Director for Innovation,
P.A. PINCUS, University of California
Research, and the Universities, in the Office of the
P. VOGEL, École Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne
Mayor of Paris
ANGÉLA TADDEI, representative of researchers, teaching
researchers, and teachers
PASCAL SILBERZAN, representative of researchers,
teaching researchers, and teachers
OLIVIER VALLON, representative of researchers, teaching
researchers, and teachers
p. 7

8. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
Toward a new model of innovation
In the traditional Tech-Transfer model, the industrial partnership is established only downstream
for the translation of an “academic innovation” into marketable applications. However, this de-
layed dialog between the industrial interests and the publicly funded research activities makes it
very unlikely that this type of innovation will find its market.
The Foundation by the numbers
140 research teams 1,450 researchers 20 million euros: seed capital 2.5 million euros: pro-
prietary funds for projects per year, over a 5-year period
1 to 3 months to validate a research project 3 to 6 months to launch partnerships Less than
one month to recruit a researcher
p. 8

9. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
The Foundation is refining the traditional model for
research enhancement. Its approach converts the
meeting between the academic community and the
industrial world into a driving force for innovation.
Discovery alone cannot lead to innovation. In the model proposed by the Foundation, the
upstream combination of the industrial know-how and the knowledge of academic research
constitutes a “partnership for discovery” that encourages the transformation of discoveries into
innovation breakthroughs, with a greater likelihood that those innovations will find their market.
The Foundation’s operations attest to its alternative vision :
To open up an avenue for innovative companies, the 4 public founding members and the
Curie Institute have installed an executive team with solid experience in small and me-
dium-sized companies.
The Foundation intent is to use its seed capital between now and the year 2012, and
thereafter to ensure its sustainable growth through the implementation of public-private
partnerships.
The prerequisite for this original approach is the creation of an interface between the locus
of discovery and the locus of innovation. The Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research
provides this interface between the academic and industrial worlds.
For applications in health
The Foundation invests in research projects that shall lead to specific breakthroughs in the health
field, including mastery of natural and pathological tissue dynamics; new diagnostic tests; medical
imaging systems; targeted therapeutic systems; new biotechnologies; new analytical devices; new
neurosensory modeling methods; and biomimetic chemistry.
p. 9

10. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
Responding to business issues
Facilitating access to basic research
Capitalizing on industrial know-how
The laboratories in the Foundation’s network and, more generally, those in the French public
Research, include world-class researchers and hold an enviable position in terms of international
scientific excellence. They are a primary locus for scientific discoveries.
In parallel, an industrial company that has a stock of know-how is the owner of a true asset and
a powerful engine for growth through the renewal of its innovations and the enhancement of
this asset.
Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research - International visibility
Univ. Coll. Inst. Fondation
Harvard Karolinska Oxford
London Pasteur PGG
Immunology 32,7 14,6 24 16,7 18,5 27,6
Neurosciences 30,6 18,1 28,5 22,6 22,4 27,4
Mol. Biol. / Genetics 51,5 26,5 38,3 35 30,8 33
Citation Index - Essential Science Indicators - ISI (1996 - 2006)
Within this complex dialog between innovation and discovery, innovation breakthroughs
cannot exist without prior discoveries. The meeting of industry and academic research is
fertile for this discoveries. The Foundation has set itself the primary task of bringing about this
meeting, facilitating and maintaining the dialog between these two worlds, and encouraging
(through a drastic administrative simplification) the initiation of research projects in the
form of partnerships.
The engineer should be able to formalize her/his know-how in order to create new scientific
challenges that will be presented to high-level academic researchers. This capitalization of
know-how is made possible through access to all of the areas of scientific expertise within
the Foundation’s network, while the Foundation itself provides security for the formalization
phase by protecting the confidentiality of the information.
p. 10

11. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
The Foundation’s natural industrial partners are innovative companies
in the health field, which invest in R&D in order to support their
growth and the durability of their economic success. They have the
courage to stake and to share their know-how, in order to create
breakthroughs.
Customized offerings
For innovative businesses, the Foundation offers multiple levels of partnership and involvement
in the Foundation’s life:
Its industrial and financial partners are an integral part of the Foundation’s network of labora-
tories. Depending on their level of involvement, they can then sponsor or contract for research
projects inspired by their own know-how, from the furthest upstream stage down through the
proof of concept. Partners then become agents for the beneficial industrial development of a
shared discovery, from innovation through market introduction. And in so doing, they build their
own ongoing future as innovative businesses.
Example for one joint research project
between one Industrial Partner and the Foundation
Opportunity Turnover Research Cost
cost Tax Reduction Tax Credit of equity
2 full time equivalent researchers 200 000 € 68 800 € 120 000 € 11 200 €
(PhD and/or Post-doc)
Consumables 35 000 € 12 040 € 21 000 € 1 960 €
Others costs 15 000 € 5 160 € 9 000 € 840 €
Total 250 000 € 86 000 € 150 000 € 14 000 €
Research Tax Credit 2008-2009
For businesses, supporting the Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research
means embarking on a unique intellectual and economic adventure. It means
participating, either directly, as an innovative entrepreneur,* or indirectly, as a
financial partner,** in the genesis of a new culture of innovation and discovery.
*Through its know-how , the company contributes to the identification and implementation of new research projects in partnership
with the Foundation’s laboratories, and to the industrial implementation of the discoveries. The company benefits from a Research Tax
Credit that lowers the cost of equity to 5.6%.
**The partner becomes a member of the Foundation’s scientific community; benefits from all of the information generated by the
network; supports the Foundation’s numerous activities (international symposia, chairs of excellence, and the establishment of junior
teams). As a contributor to a Fondation Reconnue d’Utilité Publique [Foundation of Acknowledged Public Interest], the company enjoys
tax-related benefits, in the form of a tax allowance in the amount of 60% of its contribution.
p. 11

12. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
Building innovation in three stages
Support the Foundation and join its network
Specifically, the” action partner” supports the Foundation in sponsoring individual events
(conferences, seminars, recruiting programs, etc.). Yttrium partners (named after a key element
in the field of superconductivity) and Iridium partners (named after an element used in numerous
therapeutic applications) participate in the Foundation’s life. They become active members
of the Foundation’s research community, with benefits that include access to the extranet
platform, recognition in communications media, invitations to internal events, and meetings with
the network’s researchers.
The Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research offers Iridium partners unrestricted access to
five specific value axes that are being developed around the Internet/extranet platform:
Talent • The Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research is rooted in an outstanding talent pool that also embraces the
human and social sciences, literature, and philosophy.
• Thus, the Foundation serves as a bellwether for identifying up-and-coming talents, in conjunction with the vision of its
Iridium partners, among the 1,450 researchers, 140 team leaders, 200 post-docs, and 350 young doctoral researchers
within its network.
Knowledge and • Iridium partners can obtain the assistance and support of scientific experts for questioning the state of the art in new
know-how fields, or for obtaining a better understanding of development issues.
• Iridium partners participate in the knowledge-dissemination activities organized by the Foundation. The partner’s
colleagues, as well as the academic researchers within the network, are enrolled as members of the extranet, and
have direct access to these events.
Ideas • Iridium partners have an ongoing source of innovative concepts to evaluate.
• They can obtain, at a very early stage, a full range of opportunities for development and for innovative partnerships.
Projects • The ideas and meetings initiated through the Foundation lead to R&D projects in partnership with one or more
research teams. Iridium partnership opens a pathway marked out by the Foundation:
Upstream validation of the project by the Foundation’s steering committee, clarifying the partnership in terms of
the Research Tax Credit (CIR) Simplification of the administrative management of public-private projects, through
the installation of a single agent or representative for handling the legal aspects and IP issues The security for the
acquisition of proofs of concept, through the Foundation’s supervision of the projects.
• Each year, ten promising ventures are identified within the Foundation’s laboratories. These start-ups are naturally
attracted to the Foundation’s Iridium partners in order to participate to their growth.
A ”label of quality” • Acknowledgment as an Iridium Partner of the Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research is a powerful indicator
in the world of innovation of innovation activism - which, of course, is displayed at the Foundation’s Internet site.
• Iridium partners are mentioned prominent in all broadcast media, at institutional activities, and at all of the Foundation’s
events.
p. 12

13. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
The Foundation and innovative companies seed innovation in three
successives stages: project establishment, active participation to research
and development of results...
Stage 1: Build research projects:
Yttrium and Iridium partners are directly involved in the Foundation’s activities, and engage in
dialogue with the Foundation’s researchers in order to conduct research projects in partnership.
Stage 2: Participate in research projects
The Foundation prepares a provisional budget for the project, and proposes to the Iridium partner:
Two possible types of financing
• In the form of tax-exempt sponsored research, under the auspices of the discretion granted to foundations that are
acknowledged to be in the public interest, or
• In the form of contractual joint research that can be included in full under the Research Tax Credit (CIR) assessment.
This contract specifies, among other things, the treatment of IP.
Optimized management
• Founding Members of the Foundation offer a single point of contact for all legal issues and issues relating to the
beneficial use of the results of the research projects.
• Tax-related matters are optimized, and the handling of intellectual property issues is simplified, through the signing of
contracts directly between the industrial partner and the national laboratories, with no additional intermediaries.
• Progress reports are submitted through access to the Foundation’s extranet project platform, and are also presented
at the milestone and results meetings. This system provides security for the acquisition of proofs of concept.
Stage 3: Develop Innovation
Although the development of the scientific results for beneficial use can be handled directly by the partners and the public
agencies, the Foundation can support and assist the industrialists or academic researchers in the following three instances:
For the creation of consortia / The Foundation may provide a locus for the creation of the consortia, including consortia
with external French or foreign academic partners, thereby facilitating fundraising or the acquisition of the subsidies that
are necessary for the success of the project.
Technology transfer / The Foundation assists researchers in the establishment of technology transfers.
• The Founding Members appoint a single patent manager, who becomes the Foundation’s partner for the development
and beneficial use of the invention.
• The Founding Members entrust the pair consisting of the Foundation and the manager with the task of serving as the
point of contact with the industrial partners.
Support for promising ventures / The Foundation encourages the emergence of innovative start-ups by accompanying
them and allowing them to make progress toward technical and/or economic proof of concept, without departing from
the fertile environment of its network.
p. 13

14. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
Laboratories…
Laboratories
The Foundation brings together the full potential of the research laboratories of the École
Normale Supérieure, the École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles, the
Institut Curie to which come to be added those of the Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique
(IBPC). These laboratories unite scientific excellence over a full range of disciplines: from clinical
medicine to theoretical physics, and from chemistry to molecular and cell biology.
The École Normale Supérieure is a teaching and research institution.
The long tradition of basic research at the ENS ranges from mathematics
to the human sciences, via physics, chemistry, and biology.
The mission of the École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Indus-
trielles is to train scientific engineers in the areas of physics and chemistry,
with a grounding in biology; to develop a world-class research center; and
to maintain close links with the industrial world. Thus, the ESPCI holds a
position at the heart of a tradition of relations between theoretical and
applied science.
The Institut Curie combines at a single site France’s largest cancer
research center and a hospital that specializes in the treatment of cancer.
The Curie Institute includes biologists, chemists, physicists, biostatisticians,
and physicians, all working toward the single shared goal of providing
diagnostic and therapeutic solutions to human pathologies in general and
to cancer in particular.
p. 14

15. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
Projects The Foundation’s three founding research centers include 140 teams
and 1,450 researchers working in all areas of chemistry, physics, biology,
and clinical applications.
Projects
Scientific rigor, quality, and high risk/impact are the primary selection criteria applied to the
research programs considered by the Foundation’s steering committee.
The Foundation launches only projects that qualify for two out of the three additional criteria :
• Inter-institutional, to maximize the synergies of the research laboratories of the ENS, the
ESPCI, and the Curie Institute.
• Interdisciplinary, to shorten the discovery/innovation cycle, by interfacing physics with
biology, chemistry, and clinics.
• Public-private, to facilitate the implementation of the scientific partnerships that support
the research efforts and the rapid implementation of the innovations.
Intermediate Scales for Translational Research
The range between macromolecules size and cell or tissue – on the scale from 100 nanometers to 50 microns – is where
certain major biological events take place: tumor stability, neural communication, and cell adhesion…
The study of all of these events requires a multidisciplinary approach, and is taking on the major challenge of achieving
cooperation among very diverse cultures, e.g., those of physicians, biostatisticians, chemists, biologists, and pharmacologists.
Over the last 40 years, the Foundation’s teams have developed unique skills in the study and modeling of the events that
occur at these so-called “intermediate scales.”
These skills place the researchers in an ideal position for a concrete approach to Translational Research, because the “inter-
mediate scales” are the locus of most of the causes of failure for standard therapeutic development strategies. These scales
may thus make it possible to align animal models with clinical observations. Consequently, the researchers of the Fondation
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research are resolutely embracing this field of exploration, which has often been overlooked
but which is of the utmost importance for the therapeutic successes of tomorrow.
p. 15

16. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
Developing talents...
The Foundation’s researchers
1,450 men and women with broad backgrounds and scientific careers, distributed
among the 140 laboratories in the Foundation’s network, constitute a lea-
ding international scientific community. These researchers are ready to work with
industrial know-how to which they do not currently have access, in order to derive from it
the discoveries that will be tomorrow’s wellsprings of innovation. These are the researchers
who have the courage to face new challenges by leaving the well-beaten paths of the
traditional approach of research.
From basic to applied research, from theory to inventions and industrial development for
beneficial use, from concepts to therapeutic solutions, the Foundation’s research centers form
a unique scientific hub for the creation of international “chairs of excellence,” while welcoming
visiting scientists, young researchers, and PhD students.
Roberto Sitia, a professor of mo-
lecular biology at the Università International chairs
Vita Salute San Raffaele in Milan,
International research chairs allow well-regarded researchers to conti-
is being hosted by the Cell Compart-
nue their work on scientific projects, by implementing a new thematic
mentalization and Dynamics Labora-
tory headed by Bruno Goud (UMR 144
approach to research and a new team, while strengthening the bonds
CNRS / Curie Institute) and the ENS De-
among the Foundation’s laboratories.
partment of Biology as a member of the
team led by Jean Massoulié (UMR 8544
Visiting scientists
CNRS / ENS).
The Foundation is a site for scientific exchanges and the sharing of
knowledge. It draws to France recognized researchers who, during their
Fabio Terpone has joined the
theoretical chemistry labora-
stay, participate in the research programs conducted by the Foundation’s
tory of the ENS Department of
laboratories.
Chemistry for post-doc work under the
leadership of Damien Laage. Fabio is a
Post-docs
specialist in the modeling of the behavior
The scientific excellence of the laboratories within the network make the
of complex multimolecular assemblies;
Foundation a center that is particularly well suited to the needs of young
he is working on the design of a predic-
tive model for the topology and nature researchers seeking a post-doctoral fellowship. Accordingly, the Founda-
of water-protein reactions.
tion offers grants, in order to:
Allow the Foundation’s laboratories to expand their research potential
Sarah Yasmine Suck is working on
in a responsive manner, and
her PhD at the Laboratory for
Attract bright young researchers.
the Photons and Matter (LPEM
- UPR5 ESPCI), under the supervision
Ph.D.s
of Gilles Tessier. Her project focuses on
numerical holography and microscopy of
Through the Pierre-Gilles de Gennes Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program, the
the electromagnetic field around nano-
Foundation’s laboratories welcome foreign doctoral candidates and offer
systems of biological interest.
them all of the conditions necessary for their training, e.g., financing, a
high-level research laboratory, and personal coaching.
p. 16

17. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
The Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research organizes scientific
conferences, created the PGG International Seminars, and sponsors
university summer sessions. Its goal, through these events, is to offer
Transmitting the scientific community high-level lectures on the research topics that
it addresses, and to strengthen the international scientific scope of its
knowledge network. The dissemination of knowledge through scientific events also
gives the Foundation’s partner businesses access to the latest progress
in their research fields.
The DeGennesDays 2008
Held in Paris in May 2008, the De Gennes Days international seminar seek to encourage closer
links among different disciplines, including physics, biology, chemistry, biophysics, and biochemis-
try. Recent developments in the scientific fields that are most heavily influenced by the work of
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes were presented.
PGG International Seminars 2008-2009
Translational Research & Cancer
www.fondation-pgg.org
The purpose of the international seminars sponsored by the Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
/events/degennesdays
Foundation is to present the state of the art in a given research field, and to contribute to it
through a new vision or a novel approach.
With the launch of the PGG International Seminars, the Foundation is offering a cycle of
multiple conferences in 2008 and 2009, whose goal is to enable a better understanding of
translational research in the field of oncology through complementary viewpoints.
Translational research aims to bring about cooperation among diverse cultures, and to combine
individual approaches that are in a state of constant evolution (including applied mathematics, the
physical of wave-matter interaction, molecular biology, and advanced biotechnological systems) with
solidly established know-how (including clinical observation, anatomopathology, and technical and
regulatory affairs). Thus, the conduct of translational research and the conversion of its findings
into specific applications are particularly dependent not only on the sharing of knowledge, but
www.trc.fondation-pgg.org
also on the union of skills and the creation of public-private partnerships.
It is within this context that the Foundation has made an investment in translational research and
organized a cycle of meetings. Eight meetings will present, from four different viewpoints (clinical
practice, imaging, molecular biology and bioinformatics, and industrial challenges), a multidisciplinary,
public-private, and up-to-the-minute vision of translational research in the field of oncology.
p. 17

18. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
Iridium Partners

19. FONDATION
PIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
Photos:
Originals Photos :
Serge Chapuis for the Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
p. 4 : © Gilles Bassignac - Fondation d’Entreprise L’Oréal
The founding
Members

20. www.fondation-pgg.org
contact@fondation-pgg.org
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